Drying-rack for pottery manufacture.



mmy wn C. L. SEBRING.

DRYING RACK F-OR POTTERY MANUFACTURE.

Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEEF 1.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 10. I917.

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C. L. SEBRING.

DRYING RACK FOR POTTERY MANUFACTURE.

Patenmd Feb. 18, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI' 2.

APPLICATION FlLED NOV. I0. I917.

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CHARLES L. SEEKING, OF SEBJRING, OHIO.

DRYING- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, l iltt.

Application filed November 10, 1917. Serial No. 201302.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, CHARLES L. SEBRING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sebring, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Drying-Rack for Pottery Manufacture, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to .drying racks for pottery manufacture and has for its object to provide a rack of this character which serves not only for drying the pottery, but also as a conveyor to carry the pottery between two steps in the process of manufacture during-the time that it is being dried.

With this object in View the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that Various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawin Figure 1 is a slde elevation of my drying rack and conveyer with the intermediate portion being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the. drying rack an intermediate portion being broken away and a portion of the planking, covering the drying section, being also broken awa Flg. 3 is a fragmentary perspective of the shelf hangers and sprocket chain an intermediate portion of the shelving being broken away.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

lln the manufacture of pottery after the soft clay has been formed into the shape of a piece of ware on a gigger machine it is placed by the workman operating the gigger machine or 'ggerman, upon a shelf or table alon i e of his machine. Another workman nown as a mold runner is employed to carry the mold bearing the newly formed ware to shelves generally located at a distance of from fifteen to thirty feet from the gigger machine where the molds are placed until the ware thereon has dried suficiently to permit of handling when it is then carried by the mold runner to the workman who completes the next step in the process which is known as finishing and consists of trimming the rough edges from the Ware.

My invention is adapted to be used to eliminate the mold runner, thereby saving a considerable amount of time, labor and breakage due to the additional handling of the ware. In the operation of my device the giggerman and his machine are located at a point immediately in front of the machine which 011 the drawings would be at the extreme right of Fig. 1. The finisher and his machine are located at the extreme left of Fig. 1 or the rear of the drying rack. The rack consists of four upright corner posts shown at 1. Horizontal members 2 located upon either side of the rack connect both pairs of posts at a point near their upper ends as shown in Fig. 1. Similar horizontal members 3 connect each pair of corner posts at a pointnear their lower ends and spaced slightly above the members 3 is a similar pair of members 4. Suitable cross men'ibers 5 connect the rear pair of uprights and similar members 6 connect the front pair. the whole forming a rigid rectangular structure and of sullicient strength to support a considerable weight. Mounted upon the horizontal membersQ aret-wo pairs of journals 7 and 8 and a pair of adjustable bearing 9. Upon the members 3 are two pairs of journals 10 and 11 and upon the members 4 are also mounted two pairs of journals 12 and 14. Spaced slightly from the left side of the rack is a horizontal member 15. which lies in the same horizontal plane as the members 4 and is supported upon uprights 16 and secured upon the member is a journal 17 having a corre sponding journal in alinement therewith secured upon the left hand member 4 and a second journal 18 secured upon the member 15 has a corresponding journal in alinement therewith secured upon the left band member 4. Extending transversely of the rack at a point near its upward forward corner is a shaft 19 having a bearing upon either end. said bearings being seated in the journals 8. A similar shaft 20 with a bearing upon either end is located slightly to the rearward of the shaft 19, bearings upon the shaft 20 being seated in the journals t. A third shaft, 21 adapted to rotate within the adjustable bearings 9 is located at the rearward upper portion of the machine. Each of the shafts 19, 20 and 21 having a sprocket wheel 22 mounted upon it at a point near each of its ends adjacent the members 2. Similar shafts 24 and 25 are carried by the pairs of journals 10 and 11 respectively and have sprocket wheels 26 mounted upon them in the same manner as the sprockets in the upper shafts, and shafts 27 and 28 are similarly carried by the journals 12 and 14 respectively and in turn carrysprocket wheels 29. A pair of endless sprocket chains 30 pass over and engage the sprockets 22, 26 and 29 as shown in Fig. 1 and at spaced intervals along the entire length of each of the chains 30 are links carrying bearings 31. Swinging shelf hangers are pivotally connected by means of bolts passing through the bearings 31 and support shelves 34, all of which is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The journal 17 upon the member 15 and the corresponding journal upon the left hand member 4 are adapted to carry the ends of a shaft 35 and the journal 18 and its corresponding journal mounted upon the member 4 are adapted to carry the split shaft 36. Upon the extreme outer end of the split shaft 36 and keyed thereto is a pulley 37 over which passes a belt 38, which connects to an electric motor or similar device for furnishing power to drive the pulley 37. At a point upon the split shaft 36 a jacent the outside of the member 4 is keyed a pinion 39 whichmeshes with a relatively larger pinion 40, which is keyed to the shaft 35 and a SecOnol and smaller pinion 41 also keyed upon the shaft 35 meshes with a relatively larger pinion 42, which is keyed to the extreme outer end of the shaft 27. The two sections of a clutch 44 are fixed upon the abuttin ends of the split shaft 36 and the clutci is adapted to be thrown into and out of mesh by means of a lever 45, and a spring 46 attached at one end to said lever and at the other end secured to a portion of the frame of the rack is adapted to normally hold the two member of the clutch out of mesh. A' flexible cable 47 is attached to the lever 45 and passes forwardly and over a pulley 48 and thence downwardly and is secured to one arm of a bell crank lever 49, a suitable pedal 50 being connected to the other portion of the bell crank lever and placed within easy reach of the giggerman. It is obvious that when the [pedal 50 is depressed, the bell crank lever 49 will cause a down pull to be exerted upon the cable 47 rocking the lever 45 to throw in the clutch 44, thereby transferring the power delivered to the pulley 37 through the medium of the shaft 36 to the p1n1on 39.

A secondary frame-Work consisting of horlzontal members 51 secured at their ends to the uprights 1, are arranged on either side of the device and supported upon these horizontal membersare pairs of uprights 52 arranged intermediately of the uprights 1 and extending from the horizontal members 51 upwardly and are secured to the cross members 2. Suitable cross bracing serves to add further rigidity to this secondary structure. I then inclose the forward portion with metal sheeting or as illustrated in the drawings with tongue and groove boards or the like 54, between the members 2 and 51. This it will be observed closes in a portion of the sprocket chainswhich extends upwardly from the sprockets 26 and over the sprockets 22 and thence downwardly to the sprockets 29. A steam radiator 55 or other similar heatin device is placed within this inclosed portion and serves to both raise the temperature and create a current of air through the said compartment.

In operation my device is as follows: We will assume that each of the shelves has been filled with empty molds, power being applied to the pulley 37 through the medium of the belt 38 causes the shaft 36 to be rotated. The giggerman located as above described is within easy reach of the shelves exposed beneath the inclosed portion on the chains extending between the sprockets 22 and 26. He then begins removing the empty molds one at a time from one of the shelves thus exposed, forming ware on each of the said molds and replacing them on the shelf from which he removed them. As each shelf is filled with molds bearing newly formed ware, the giggerman depresses the pedal 50 throwing in the clutch 44 and through the medium of the train of gears, causing the shaft 27 to be rotated, which in turn causes the sprocket chains to begin to move. He holds the pedal thus depressed until the next succeeding shelf to the one he has just filled is moved up to occupy the position of the first shelf, the operation bemg continued until each of the molds upon each of the shelves has received a piece of newly formed ware. As the chain carries the shelves upwardly and through the inclosed portion formed by the boarding 54, the moisture will begin to be driven out due to the heat within the compartment and also to the current of air passing therethrough and as the time elapsing between the entrance of each shelf at the bottom of the inclosure on its upward journey toward the sprockets 22 and thence downwardly toward the sprockets 29 represents the length of time it would take a workman to fashion the number of pieces of ware contained on the shelves within these two points, the greatest portion of the moisture in the ware has been driven out and the remaining distance which the ware has to travel until it naeapea reaches the point at the rear of the machine where the finisher is located consumes sufficient time to dry out the remainder of the moisture it arrives at this point ready for the finishing operation. The finisher then removes the ware from each of the molds as it comes within his reach, the empty molds being carried downwardly and then forwardly around the sprockets 26 when they once more come within reach of the giggerman. It will be readily seen that with the use of my device the mold runner is entirely eliminated and the giggerman is enabled to form the ware as rapidly as his skill will permit, not being delayed by having to wait for the mold runner to clear the finished ware from the table or bring him empty molds upon which to place fresh ware. The loss due to breakage is considerably diminished since a large percentage of the handling is thus eliminated. Should slack occur in either or both of the sprocket chains due to wear it can readily be eliminated by means of the adjustable bearings 9, it therefore being possible to always keep the shelves supported between the two chains perfectly horizontal.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a drying rack and conveyer of the character described, a rectangular frame-work, a plurality of shafts journaled upon said frame work, a sprocket wheel mounted upon each end of each of the said shafts, a chain connecting all of the sprocket wheels upon one end of all of the said shafts and a second sprocket chain connecting all of the sprocket wheels upon the other end of all of the said shafts, shelves adapted to have placed thereon molds containing newly formed pottery, pivotally mounted between the said sprocket chains and supported thereby, means for adjusting the said chains to insure a horizontal positioning of the shelves supported thereon, means for intermittently applying power to move the shelves in a given direction, a portion of the chains carrying the said shelves being inclosed, means for heating the interior of said inclosed portion to dry the ware upon the said shelves as the chains convey them through the said inclosure.

In testimony that l claim the above, I

have hereunto subscribed my name.

CHARLES L. SEBRING. 

